By Michael J. Sniffen. .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, 10 (AP) - The Justice Department is reviewing whether alcohol-related driving violations or other actions by Elian Gonzalez' relatives in Miami warrant moving the 6-year-old boy to a different, temporary custodian.
``That matter is under review,'' Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said when asked Thursday about the violations. ``We will look at that, try to make some kind of factual determination and then decide what steps, if any, need to be taken.''
In addition, the department is still considering a request last week from Elian's father in Cuba, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, to have Elian's temporary custody shifted from his great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez to another great-uncle, Manolo Gonzalez. Both great-uncles live in Miami.
Juan Miguel Gonzalez objected to the media access to Elian that Lazaro Gonzalez's family has permitted and to the treatment of Elian by psychologists selected by Lazaro Gonzalez's family.
Meantime, the possibility of a meeting between Attorney General Janet Reno and Lazaro Gonzalez's family re-emerged Thursday. Reno agreed to a meeting earlier this week, only to have Lazaro Gonzalez's family withdraw the request. But discussions have been renewed, a Justice official said
Thursday.
Later Thursday, two of Elian's Miami cousins sought support on Capitol Hill for legislation that would help keep the boy in America. One of them, Marisleysis Gonzalez, told a news conference that reports of alcohol-related violations by relatives should not have bearing on the custody case.
``We're doing what's in Elian's best interest. My family is a very close family,'' she said.
Another cousin, Georgina Cid, said Elian's father had intended to flee Cuba himself, but was being coerced by the Castro government to stay and make certain statements.
``He wanted to reunite with his son - but not in Cuba,'' Cid said. She said she and other family members had spoken to Elian's father by phone both before and after the mother perished.
The father's response when learning that his boy was safe in Miami was ``take care of him until I can go, meaning go to the United States,'' Cid said.
A group of Florida lawmakers introduced legislation this month to grant Elian American citizenship, which would take the decision about Elian's future away from INS and give it to a Florida family court. Support for the bill has been waning.
Reno has already met with Lazaro Gonzalez's lawyer and a Catholic nun from Miami who oppose his return to Cuba, as well as with Elian's two grandmothers from Cuba, who want him returned.
In Havana, Elian's father joined President Fidel Castro on Thursday in a packed auditorium in what has become a daily public rally to press for the boy's return. Speaker after speaker denounced the United States and extolled the virtues of Cuba's communist revolution.
A Justice official, who requested anonymity, said the department has authority, if necessary, to shift temporary custody to someone other than Lazaro Gonzalez. The boy was placed in his care after being found clinging to an inner tube in the Atlantic last Thanksgiving following a boat wreck that
killed his mother and 10 other people.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has ruled in favor of the father's request that the boy be returned to him in Cuba, but that decision was put on hold while the Miami relatives battle in federal court to keep him in this country.
Holder said that INS acted appropriately but ``now that we have this new information, we'll have to look at it, and see, like I said, what steps if any are appropriate.''
Florida state records show Lazaro Gonzalez, 49, was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol at least twice from 1991 to 1997. Records also show Lazaro Gonzalez's 62-year-old brother, Delfin Gonzalez, has been found guilty at least twice of driving under the influence.
On Wednesday, Ricardo Alarcon, head of Cuba's National Assembly and Castro's key man for U.S.-Cuban relations, said the convictions prove the homes of those uncles are no place for Elian.
``Practically everyone surrounding him either has been, or may be in the future, joining the prison system in the U.S. That's not the best interest of the child,'' Alarcon told reporters in Havana. He said Elian was ``surrounded by two drunks.''
Armando Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Miami relatives, dismissed the criticism: ``Elian is surrounded by love.'' Elian's relatives and other Miami supporters say his mother died to give him freedom.
The newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party, daily Gramma, published a letter Thursday from Elian's grandmothers to Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner asking for Elian's return.
``No material good exists that can compete with the value of the family, and it is humiliating for us that people are still questioning our love and the future that awaits Elian at his home,'' said a Spanish version of the letter, dated Feb. 4.
AP-NY-02-10-00 2013EST
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